London, Mar 13 : Josef Fritzl, the Austrian incest fiend who held his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years, has claimed that Elisabeth begged him to kidnap a second victim to keep her company.

Elisabeth, now 43, spent more than two decades in a home-made dungeon under the family home, reports The Sun.

She bore him seven children - three of whom were imprisoned in the cellar with her - before being rescued last April.

Fritzl, 73, is due in court at St Poelten, Austria, on Monday. He faces charges of murder, rape, incest, false imprisonment, slavery and abuse.

In defence documents to be presented at his trial, Fritzl will claim that Elisabeth wanted him to snatch a second girl.

In an interview with psychiatrists he says: "She wanted me to kidnap another girl so she had someone to talk to. She was really lonely. But I had enough problems with one woman down there."

Fritzl insists he had previously never considered imprisoning another victim.

The case first came to light after 19-year-old Kerstin, one of the children fathered by Fritzl and kept underground, became seriously ill and was taken to hospital. (ANI)